There was a recent dustup on a community Facebook page over PFAS. I contributed, because the original post said "don't drink the water" and I was able to google evidence that this was unrealistic because 2/3 of Americans have PFAS in their water supply, and bottled water has it too.
The other problem with the original post is that PFAS don't just come in water. You can put a dent in PFAS if you avoid all toiletries -- cosmetics, shampoos, nail polish, and eye makeup. If you're not going to do that, you're going to wash PFAS into your water supply. (I haven't worn makeup in decades and I use an herbal mask on my hair.)
PFAS are in waterproof and stain-resistant fabrics. Your athletic wear and things you use in the kitchen are likely in this class. Wear natural cottons when exercising or doing dirty work; look for something that doesn't unravel in chlorine bleach, or find a way to bleach them in the sun.
Speaking of the kitchen, that non-stick cookware may use PTFE, a PFAS. There are ways to keep food from sticking to cookware. For one thing, when the cooking is almost done, put in a little water, put the lid on the pan, and turn the burner off. For another, most parchment paper is free of PFAS and I use it to bake bread so the pan doesn't get bread baked onto it.
Any plastics can be hiding PFAS. You have to cook from scratch at home to avoid them, and you can't use meal kits like Blue Apron. Even cardboard french fry boxes have PFAS in them; take-out food is a major source of PFAS. Plastics used to package cooking ingredients may contain PFAS; buy things that come in metal or glass containers.
And look at plastic storage in your house. It's not enough to replace ziploc bags by durable washable plastic dishes (that may also survive nuking). You have to know if those dishes contain PFAS. The queen of plastic dishes, Tupperware, makes a number of product lines and some of them have PFAS in them. Steamable vegetable packaging can contain PFAS; so can microwavable packaging on frozen dinners. On the bottom of plastic dishes is a number indicating the class of plastic it contains; only use things with 2, 4, or 5 -- and even those are "safest" not "safe". Replace plastic with glass storage or metal with a tight-fitting lid.
Your dish detergent and laundry detergent could contain PFAS, especially those laundry pods. Up to 75% of those plastics winds up in our water supply.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkart/2021/08/08/study-says-up-to-75-of-plastics-from-detergent-pods-enter-the-environment-industry-says-they-safely-biodegrade/
I switched to fair trade castile soap nearly a decade ago for both dishes and laundry, except for the shampoo I use for my hand knits which contains tea tree and lavender oils. Understand: there is a difference between detergents and soaps. What I use is a real soap, not a detergent. And it seems to cut grease better than detergents, which is important for me because I do a lot of India-style recipes with turmeric. For scrubbing, use baking soda which is also non-scratch and deodorizes things. This limits your exposure to PFAS to what might be in the steel wool pads you use for charred-on food. And if you know what you're doing (see above) you won't get charred-on food in the first place.
I also use castile soap for general cleaning, like scrubbing carpets or floors. You can even use it in your hair, with a rosemary tea chaser to make your hair soft. Soaps are notorious for drying your skin; I have a pure aloe lotion with chickweed infusion and lavender essential oil that I make up at home; all the ingredients are famous for being good to your skin.
It's also true that there are carcinogens in commercial detergents, particularly 1,4-dioxane. So by ditching them, you get a two-fer.
https://www.newsday.com/news/health/dioxane-household-products-contaminant-1.19725580
Finally, dryer sheets. I stopped using them years ago. I spent $13 on a set of six woolen dryer balls; four of them have never left the box. I use two balls per load; they beat your things soft. They are naturally unscented but you can put drops of essential oils on them for fragrance; some essential oils like lavender have a reputation for being anti-microbial.
And you probably want to get rid of carpet, especially (see above) if it is stain resistant. The crawling baby can pick up PFAS on his hands and then, we all know kids put their hands in their mouths.
The OP on Facebook reposted with a header about how EPA is starting -- STARTING -- to look at making industry report on PFAS. You don't have to wait for that. You can vote with your $$$$. You can contact the makers of the products you ditch and tell them you ditched their product because of PFAS. You can post on social media about products that contain PFAS.
In the meantime, use the EPA site to find products to replace your PFAS.
https://www.epa.gov/saferchoice/products
Where this all started, was with somebody ringing alarm bells without providing a course of action to take. When you find that going on, you know that the alarmist hasn't done their homework. There might really be something worth getting alarmed about, but do your homework and make sure you know what to do about it.
What's more, the OP wanted government to do something about PFAS. Well, the government is incapable of doing anything permanent as long as you and I keep dumping PFAS into our water supply or landfill.
I'm just saying....
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